Topic: Winter Depression.....

We are about to officially enter the hard months, the dark ages as the midshipmen at the Naval Academy say: the time of the year when the sun disappears. It also means that seasonal depression will cause many more cases of depression with chronic pain patients.

Depression can and often does cause the pain in patients with chronic pain to become worse. As the pain increases, so does the depression. It becomes a bad cycle that often becomes harder to stop. There are treatments for both the pain and the depression, but if the patient does not have a good support system, the depression and pain could increase and/or cause more damage to the patient.

An article on WebMD.com states:

Living with chronic or long-term pain is a tremendous burden. But when you have chronic pain and depression, the burden gets even heavier.

alan="http://xml.apache.org/xalan">Depression magnifies pain. It makes it more difficult to cope with everyday living. The good news is that chronic pain and depression are not inseparable. Effective medications and psychotherapy can help relieve the depression and make chronic pain more tolerable.

Weather you are the patient or the person who knows and/or cares for a chronic pain patient, it is important to watch for increased signs of depression during this time of year.